IAEA Daily Press Review

The objective of the DPR is to present a general overview of international, English-language, media coverage of the IAEA and nuclear issues,
that does not purport to be exhaustive. The following articles are obtained from external news sources for whose content the IAEA takes no responsibility.

October 22, 2012

IAEA in the News

Japan, IAEA working on Fukushima decontamination and disposal base The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Japanese government plan to set up a long-term research base in Fukushima to study ways to decontaminate radiation-tainted areas and dispose of radioactive waste, government sources said Saturday. Kyodo

Other Nuclear News

U.S. and Iran Deny Plan for Nuclear Talks The question of whether the United States should seek to engage Iran in one-on-one talks on its nuclear program joined the likely topics for Monday’s final presidential debate as supporters of President Obama and Mitt Romney jousted on Sunday over the issue. NYT / see also NYT / Reuters

U.S. Says It Will ‘Ratchet Up’ Sanctions Pressure on Iran The U.S. will “ratchet up the pressure” on Iran to address international concerns about that country’s nuclear program, the Treasury Department’s top counterterrorism official said. Bloomberg

Ex-Mossad Chief: Dialogue With Iran Over Nukes is Essential Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy on Sunday called on the West to have a dialogue with Iran amid denials of reported talks between the US and Tehran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Jerusalem Post

[U.S.] Former White House Aides: New Nuclear Guidance to Have Lasting Effect Whether it is Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, the U.S. president in coming months and years will face a series of stark decisions on strategic issues, including one that will decide the size of America’s nuclear arsenal. GSN

Pakistan urges talks on nuclear disarmament, instead of pushing for limited goals Pakistan has called for redoubling efforts to revive a global consensus that ensures elimination of nuclear weapons “within a specified time frame,” while meeting the security concerns of all states. “We must strive to evolve a rules-based, equitable and non-discriminatory international order that must pursue a comprehensive disarmament agenda,” Pakistani delegate Khalil Hashmi told the General Assembly’s First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security matters. APP

Bahrain postpones nuclear energy plans Trade Arabia reported that Bahrain has postponed its plans to adopt nuclear energy as a source of power by 2017. Trade Arabia

Nuclear weapons ‘outlawed’ in an independent Scotland, says Salmond The leader of the SNP has said that if his party won power in an independent government it would make nuclear weapons illegal. BBC

Nuclear-free Middle East faces an arduous road A VEIL of silence and secrecy has shrouded the fate of a conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction in 2012, since the UN announced on Oct. 14, 2011 that Finland will host it. MENAFN

Putin flexes muscle in big test of Russia’s nuclear arsenal President Vladimir Putin took a leading role in the latest tests of Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenal, the most comprehensive since the 1991 Soviet collapse, the Kremlin said on Saturday. Reuters